By Candace Kellner
Staff Writer
Nearly two years after the Boston Marathon bombing, prosecutors are preparing to conclude the first phase of the trial of defendent Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, but they didnt’t finish without bringing jurors to tears.
On Monday, March 30, jurors heard testimonies from the family and friends of some of the victims of the bombing, according to CNN. The most tragic testimonies were those surrounding the death of 8-year-old Martin Richard.
Martin was standing near the marathon’s finish line with his family when one of the bombs went off. No part of Martin’s body was left unharmed, according to Boston’s chief medical examiner, Henry Neilds. According to CNN, Neilds concluded that Martin had bled to death after sustaining injuries to his torso and extremities.
In reaction to this graphic testimony, several jurors cried openly in court while the boy’s parents sat solemnly in the audience, CNN reported. Bill and Denise Richard held each other closely during the display of gruesome photographs of their deceased son.
In his testimony, Bill described the moment he saw his son after the explosion.
“I saw a little boy who had his body severely damaged by an explosion,” he said. Immediately after Bill rushed to his son’s side, he knew that there was no hope.
“I just knew from what I saw that there was no chance,” Bill said. “The color of his skin, and so on.”
Neilds further described the boy’s injuries, concluding that the bomb had severed Martin’s spinal cord, abdominal aorta and lower intestines. The boy also suffered from a ruptured stomach, torn liver and a snapped bone in his right leg, according to CNN.
In addition to these and other internal injuries, Martin received third-degree burns on his back, buttock and left calf. Blast debris left his body with scrapes, bruises and perforations.
While many of Martin’s injuries were likely to result in his death, the most severe injury Martin received was to his aorta, Neilds said. It is a major blood vessel, according to Neilds, and Martin likely bled to death in minutes, if not seconds.
According to USA Today, closing arguments were made on Monday, April 6, before the jury. Tsarnaev faces 30 counts, 17 of which could bring him the death penalty.
